San Francisco Mayor London Breed sent an important but unintentional message recently when she was caught violating her own mask mandates while partying away, maskless, in a jam-packed jazz club.
Her excuse was incoherent; she said she was "feeling the spirit," enjoying the music and so not thinking about a mask.
The more serious problem wasn't Breed's hypocrisy and lame rationalizing so much as the mixed and misleading messages sent by the rules themselves. Americans are in dire need of guidance that's coherent, fair, sustainable and backed by evidence. And they're not getting it from public health authorities or the rule-makers who rely on them, even as the country slouches toward a confusing new normal with no end to COVID-19 in sight.
"We don't need the fun police to come in and micromanage and tell us what we should or shouldn't be doing," Breed said when questioned. She was making a good point.
But as Charles C.W. Cook wrote on Monday in National Review, Breed is the official who authorized the mask mandate. She is the fun police.
What we do know from scientific observations is that some environments are more risky than others. Epidemiologists had at one point used the term the Three Cs to describe the major risk factors: crowds, close contact and closed spaces. The San Francisco club where Breed was caught might as well have been flashing all three Cs in neon lights.
Breed's explanation after the fact made the point that it's kind of absurd to expect people to enjoy live music in clubs while wearing "well-fitting" masks, as required by local rules. Even the most enthusiastic maskers probably wear a mask about 20% of their time in a club, or cocktail party or similar event.
Does that help? Not really. There is scientific evidence to suggest that this small amount of mask wearing is mostly symbolic in such situations.